Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is siding with President Barack Obama in his dispute with Rick Santorum over higher education.
Last week, Santorum called Obama a “snob” for asking Americans in 2009 to “commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training." Obama’s comment “strikes me as perfectly reasonable,” Gingrich told NBC’s “Today” show Tuesday.
“Everybody in America is going to have to get re-educated all the time, because jobs are going to change, technology is going to change. And if we're going to compete in the world market, we both have to have the best equipment and the best training."
The former House speaker voiced his support for additional education to enable American workers to thrive in a shifting economy. "Every American ought to be trained," Gingrich said.
And training should be a stipulation for receiving jobless benefits, he said. "I propose that we add a requirement to unemployment compensation that you have to sign up for a business training program to learn some skill if we're going to give you money."
Santorum’s remarks also drew a rebuke from Virginia GOP Gov. Bob McDonnell. “I wish he’d said it differently,” McDonnell told The Washington Post.
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